In many ways, the story of Joyce Manor’s alt-rock radio breakthrough is typical: Local band builds a devoted following, wins over the big regional station, and swarms the airwaves with the super-catchy lead single to its new album. The main difference with the pop-punk group is its timing: It’s taken the band nearly 15 years to finally score its first radio hit, with the jangly meta-downer “All My Friends Are So Depressed.”

That’s hardly to say the Torrance, Calif., trio was toiling in obscurity for the prior decade and a half. Joyce Manor became a punk and emo scene favorite and Tumblr sensation following its 2011 self-titled debut, and it has since expanded its reach to include famous fans like blink-182’s Mark Hoppus (who joined the band to sing “Heart Tattoo” at its 2024 Hollywood Palladium show celebrating the 10th anniversary of its defining album Never Hungover Again) and star comedian John Mulaney (who had the band perform on his Netflix talk show Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney last year).

“It’s really evenly paced,” says frontman Barry Johnson of the band’s growth from basement breakout to something fairly close to rock stardom. “We’ve never had that Turnstile moment where you blink, and it’s like, ‘Wait a minute. They’re like, the biggest band on Earth?…’ Things that aren’t tied to an album push, typically, have kept people aware of us. But it has been really incremental.”

Instead, Joyce Manor has built a sustainable career the old-fashioned way: “Just in playing good shows and putting out good records,” as Ravenhouse’s Drew McKinley, the band’s longtime co-manager along with Juan Luis Carrera, puts it. “There’s a certain level of consistency.”

That reliability became a particular boon to the trio — comprising Johnson, guitarist Chase Knobbe and bassist Matt Ebert — during the pandemic, when the longtime road warriors were forced to take a live break, and fans got a chance to miss their dependability. “Joyce Manor came out of COVID twice as big as they went in,” says Carrera. “So many things popped out of that, whether it’s selling out a Palladium [show or] John Mulaney [booking them].”

Now, the band can add a top 25 hit on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart to its list of recent achievements, thanks to “Depressed.” The song also marks the group’s first time working with Brett Gurewitz as producer; Gurewitz was an early inspiration to the band as guitarist for Los Angeles punk greats Bad Religion, and he’s a co-founder (and in-house producer) for Epitaph Records, the label home for Joyce Manor since 2014.

“I secretly wanted to [produce them] for a long time,” admits Gurewitz, who feared that volunteering his services would be viewed by the band as an offer they couldn’t refuse. (The band says they assumed he simply didn’t have time: “Dude, you’re a dad — you have multiple labels, you have a publishing company — you’re busy!’” Johnson recalls thinking.)

But such an opportunity arose when Johnson was frustrated in the studio translating the vision he had for “Depressed” — whose mix of gentle despair and country-fried Americana he considers his spin on Lana Del Rey, despite admitting he’s not actually being that familiar with her work. He then consulted Gurewitz for his take. As Gurewitz recalls telling Johnson, “I was thinking it would have like this sort of ‘80s Smiths vibe.” Johnson replied, “Well, why don’t you record it the way you would do it?”

Gurewitz’s simpler take on the song, with cleaner guitars, was to the group’s liking and led him to produce the entirety of the band’s forthcoming seventh album, I Used To Go to This Bar (due Jan. 30, 2026), perhaps the most direct and radio-ready Joyce Manor album to date, with more fully fleshed-out songs than fans expect from the band’s famously lean releases. “It’s short and sweet, like all Joyce Manor records,” Gurewitz says, “but I managed to get them to add some choruses.”

“Depressed” caught the attention of legendary L.A. alt-rock station KROQ, which had been scoping the band since its level-up 2023 gig at Long Beach Arena. While the band’s 2010s pop-punk sound was an awkward fit for the station in the decade of Twenty One Pilots and Imagine Dragons, it tapped into something more timeless with the Smiths- and Cure-reminiscent track.

Bassist Matt Ebert calls it “so incredibly thrilling” and guitarist Chase Knobbe says it’s a trip to hear his song on the station responsible for “a lot of [my] early musical memories.” On the other hand, Johnson’s reflexive response is anxiety: “I feel like they’re going to stop the song,” he says. “They’re [going to go], ‘Hey, sorry about that… We didn’t mean to play that. It was not any good, and we’ll never do it again.’ ”

KROQ has yet to express such regrets — and with one of the nation’s premiere alt-rock stations leading the way, the format has (slowly, of course) started to embrace “Depressed.” The song holds at its No. 22 high on the Alternative Airplay chart dated Dec. 13, its 11th week on the listing.

With a new album that McKinley calls “definitely a level up for them” and a live presence that’s constantly hitting new benchmarks (“Every L.A. show we’ve ever done has been our biggest L.A. show,” says Johnson), the doors are open for Joyce Manor to continue its ascent. In 2023, the band played amphitheaters and pavilions as openers on a summer tour with Weezer, and its managers say they could someday be headlining such venues themselves.

“That’s the trajectory,” says McKinley. “There’s a new level of maturity as a band in Barry’s songwriting, and a new confidence — playing shows with Weezer, and being on those bigger stages, is definitely setting the pathway forward for that.” Carrera adds: “They feel really comfortable on those stages now. They’re going to be replacing those bands at that level [one day], and bringing somebody up with them.”

Johnson is open to (if somewhat trepidatious about) that prospect — but true to his band’s approach, if he gets to that apex someday, he certainly doesn’t want to get there all at once. “Gradually, we’re like, ‘Oh, we’re kind of high up here now, aren’t we?’ I didn’t rocket up there, you know? So I would like to keep that pace.”

A version of this story appears in the Dec. 13, 2025, issue of Billboard.

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The holiday season is in full force, which means it’s time to break out the eggnog and matching pajamas, crank up the Christmas songs and throw on a certified ugly Christmas sweater.

Ugly Christmas sweaters are more versatile than you might think. You can, of course, wear them to holiday parties, but also to school, work, holiday shopping or simply lounging around the house. They also make an excellent gag gift for friends and family alike.

To get you in the spirit, we’ve collected a list of the best of the best ugly Christmas sweaters and sweatshirts for music lovers. Most, if not all, of these picks will arrive before Christmas. We’ve included themed picks from artists like The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Metallica and more. If you’re shopping for a fun Christmas gift or something to bring to a white elephant party, see the roundup of festive sweaters below. For more gift ideas, check out our gift guides under $25 and must-have winter sherpa coats.

This one’s for the Swiftie in your life. The slouchy holiday sweatshirt is black, available in sizes small to 3XL, and reads “Have A Merry Swift-Mas” with Christmas trees and Taylor Swift in a Santa hat on the front. It’s festive, cozy and shows the world that you’re a die-hard Swiftie no matter the season. If the sweater wasn’t enough, you’ll also recieve a holiday keychain with your purchase.

While Brat summer might be long gone, the mindset is still alive and well. This Christmas, we’re getting certified Brat with this Brat-themed sweater from Etsy, priced at $27.95. The sweater is black with Brat green accents, obviously, and features holiday motifs like trees, snowflakes and deer. This piece comes in sizes small to 3XL and can be switched to an alternative red colorway.

Here at ShopBillboard, we love a pun, especially a music-themed pun. This Fender Ugly Christmas sweater reads “Welcome To The Jingle,” a funny holiday wordplay inspired by Guns N’ Roses’ 1987 song “Welcome To The Jungle.” The sweater features a slew of skeletons rocking out with candy canes in their hands and Santa hats on their heads.

Does everyone remember MTV’s “Headbangers Ball?” The television program featured around-the-clock showings of heavy metal music videos. This show was basically a one stop shop for headbangers, giving them a show to rock out to in the comfort of their own home. This ugly Christmas sweater makes reference to the iconic show and comes in black with holiday-themed graphics throughout. This sweatshirt currently retails for $25.83 and comes in sizes small to 3XL.

Christmas sweaters are pretty cool, but have you ever seen a rocker Santa sweater as cool as this? Probably not. This Knitted Ugly Christmas Sweater retails for $54.99 and is affixed with a Santa with a mohawk playing the drums along with the words “Little Drummer Boy” on the front in reference to the classic Christmas song.

Santa Claus goes heavy metal! This knit sweater is available in 39 styles and colors and sizes ranging from S-5XL. The Sleigher design pictured above is an Amazon bestseller.

Make a statement in this Tupac Shakur sweater featuring a photo of the late rapper in a Santa hat and holiday spin on his 1996 track ”2 of Amerikas Most Wanted.”  The sweatshirt is available in nine colors including black, red, green, maroon and multiple shades of blue and pink (sizes S-5XL).

Rock out for the holidays in a Rolling Stones Ugly Christmas Sweater. This black, white and red sweater is available in sizes S-XXL and features the band’s signature logo surrounded by snowflakes and deer.

The Beatles Abbey Road Red and White Ugly Christmas Sweater celebrates the album’s 50th anniversary. The sweater is made from mostly acrylic with 15% wool, and is available in sizes S, M, 2XL, 3XL and 4XL. Click here to shop the official Beatles Christmas sweater ($58).

Merry Christmas deadheads. This Grateful Dead Christmas sweater comes in four different designs and its available in sizes X-Small to 3X-Large. The silhouette is slouchy and stylish and affixed with bears, an iconic Grateful Dead symbol.

Dreaming of a Wu-Tang Christmas? Represent the RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah and the rest of hip-hop’s Shaolin crew in this Wu-Tang Forever Ugly Christmas Sweater. It’s available in limited sizes S,M, XL and 4XL. Find other Wu-Tang inspired Christmas sweaters options here.

Any punk rock fans out there? Misfits is yet another iconic punk rock band that we’ve found immortalized on a funky Christmas sweater. This one from Amazon retails for $55.20 and comes in red and black with white snowflake accents and poinsettia motifs on the sleeves. The band’s iconic skull motif was plastered on the front above the band’s name in graphic lettering.

This ugly Christmas sweater makes reference to one of Pink Floyd’s most popular albums, 1973’s The Dark Side of the Moon. The band’s eigth studio album spent a record-breaking time on Billboard’s 200 charts, over 900 weeks total. The festive sweater retails for $44.95 and features that iconic glass prism from the front of the album accompanied by snowflake motifs and rainbow accents.

Here comes another music-themed pun, this time, in reference to Metallica’s 1986 album Master of Puppets. The sweater retails for $29.94 and reads “Master of Presents” with presents attached to puppet strings, mimicking the art on the front of the album.

If you don’t have any loyalty to any band or artist, Fender has a generic Christmas sweater from Fender in a slouchy style with snow and guitar motifs throughout. The style retails for $25.83 and comes in gray. Sizing options range from small to 2XL. If you don’t want to spend a fortune on your next sweater obsession, this one is currently 30% off.

Raul Malo, whose operatic, lush lead vocals led the eclectic musical group The Mavericks, died Monday (Dec. 8) at age 60 following a battle with cancer.

“At 8:52 pm on December 8th, 2025, my love… our boys’ father… a devoted son and brother… and a friend to so many, gained his angel wings,” Betty Malo, the musician’s wife, wrote in a statement posted on Malo’s official Facebook page Tuesday (Dec. 9). “He was called to do another gig — this time in the sky — and he’s flying high like an eagle. No one embodied life and love, joy and passion, family, friends, music, and adventure the way our beloved Raul did. Now he will look down on us with all that heaven will allow, lighting the way and reminding us to savor every moment. Dino, Victor, Max and I — along with our entire family — thank all of you for your love and support through all of this. We felt every bit of it.In Raul’s own words: ‘Muchísimas gracias.’”

The Mavericks posted on the group’s official Facebook page, writing, “It’s with the deepest grief we share the passing of our friend, bandmate and brother Raul Malo on December 8th, 2025 at the age of 60.”

The statement continued: “Anyone with the pleasure of being in Raul’s orbit knew that he was a force of human nature, with an infectious energy. Over a career of more than three decades entertaining millions around the globe, his towering creative contributions and unrivaled, generational talent created the kind of multicultural American music reaching far beyond America itself.

“While his spirited performances garnered a massive & loyal following, and his powerful songwriting and musicianship earned multiple Grammy, ACM, and CMA awards, it was his lifelong commitment to the preservation of the multi-lingual American musical repertoire of which he was most proud, making history in 2020 with the first album ever to debut at the top of both the Latin Pop and Folk-Americana charts,” the group said before concluding, “Though his earthly body may have passed, Raul’s spirit will live on forever in heaven, and here on earth through the music, joy, and light he brought forth. His contributions to American and Latin music will be everlasting, as his songs and voice touched fans and fellow artists around the world.”

In June 2024, Malo, whose rich voice drew comparisons to Roy Orbison’s crystalline tone, revealed that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer, though the band continued to tour with Dwight Yoakam through his treatments. However, this year, they had to cancel tour dates due to his health battle, and the cancer then spread to his brain. On Dec. 5 and 6, many of Malo’s friends and musical colleagues — including Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna — gathered for two shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium to celebrate Malo and the band’s indelible contributions to music. Malo had been hospitalized on Dec. 4 and was unable to attend.

As Betty Malo chronicled on social media, Malo’s last few months were filled with music, as friends, colleagues and fellow musicians would drop by the house to play music with Malo and then for him as his condition deteriorated. He reunited with former Mavericks cofounder Robert Reynolds, who was dismissed from the band in 2014, as well as Thomas Anthony, his bandmate in the Tomboys, Malo’s teenage band before the Mavericks.

Malo, a first-generation Cuban-American, was born in Miami in 1965. He grew up in a bilingual household, and soaked in sounds of jazz, pop, country, Latin music and rock. Through the decades, the band’s music would draw upon that array of sounds to create their own musical hybrid.

The Mavericks originated in Miami, before music exec Tony Brown signed the group to MCA in 1991. The band released its MCA debut album From Hell to Paradise in 1992, followed by the project What a Crying Shame, which was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was propelled by “What a Crying Shame,” “Oh, What a Thrill” and “There Goes My Heart,” all of which charted in the 20s on Billboard Hot Country Songs.

“To my brother, Raul! From the very beginning, I always felt a kindred spirit with the music that we both loved and our foundational punk rock attitude toward the industry,” said Big Machine Label Group founder/CEO Scott Borchetta in a statement to Billboard. Borchetta worked with the band from its early days at MCA as a promotion executive. “[Raul] was the ultimate rock star and he did it his way. I am forever grateful and proud of what we did together. He was a generational talent.”

The Mavericks won a Grammy for best country performance by a duo or group with vocals for its hit “Here Comes the Rain,” and earned eight Grammy nominations. In 1995 and 1996, the band was named the CMA’s vocal group of the year.

The group was both a critical and commercial success, though mainstream radio programmers didn’t always seem to know how to deal with it’s melange of musical styles. The Mabericks’ highest charting single was the rollicking “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down” (featuring Flaco Jiménez), which reached No. 13 on Billboard‘s Top Country Songs chart in 1996.

Instead, the band built its devoted following from its live shows, which were boisterous, sweat-soaked rowdy affairs with stellar musicianship on display surrounding Malo’s otherworldly vocals.

“Raul was a force on stage with the voice of both an angel and a tiger,” Austin City Limits executive producer Terry Lickona tells Billboard. “The Mavericks first appeared on ACL 30 years ago, did one of our only pandemic shows — without an audience — and kicked off our 50th anniversary special last year.”

In the 2000s, The Mavericks went on hiatus, but Malo continued creating music, including solo albums and work with the group Los Super Seven.

The Mavericks reunited in 2012 and released the album In Time. In 2015, it was named duo/group of the year at the Americana Music Honors & Awards. The Mavericks continued exploring new creative spaces. In 2020, the band recorded an album entirely in Spanish, as the group reimagined traditional songs from Latin America songs on En Español. Its most recent release, 2024’s Moon & Stars, featured appearances from Sierra Ferrell, Maggie Rose, Nicole Atkins and Max Abrams.

Tributes from his fellow artists have been pouring in. Otto posted on social media, “RIP Maestro. I wish you could have made it to the Ryman show to witness the tremendous outpouring of love from your friends and fans. Raul left behind a loving family and a decades long musical legacy of excellence. Please say a prayer for him & the whole Malo family.”

Producer Shooter Jennings posted on X, “Rest in peace Raul Malo! I loved the Mavericks. We got to hang many times and I used to tell him how much I went crazy for his version of ‘Us and Them.’ A performer and craftsman of the highest order.”

Country singer Randy Houser added, “I remember lying in my dorm in Mississippi listening to the Mavericks and just blown away by [Malo’s] beautiful, God-given voice. He truly was an inspiration.”

Malo is survived by his wife of 34 years, Betty, as well as sons Dino, Victor and Max; his mother, Norma; sister Carol; and Mavericks bandmates Paul Deakin, Eddie Perez and Jerry Dale McFadden.

One Battle After Another star Leonardo DiCaprio thinks artificial intelligence may “be an enhancement tool for a young filmmaker to do something we’ve never seen before,” even as he laments that some talented people could lose their jobs in the process. But in a chat with TIME magazine for their Entertainer of the Year honor, the Oscar-winning actor’s take on how AI might impact music in the future was a bit less optimistic.

“I think anything that is going to be authentically thought of as art has to come from the human being,” DiCaprio told the magazine. That said, he rattled off a list of AI-spiked mashup songs he dubbed “absolutely brilliant,” while offering a harsh rebuke of original music made by algorithm.

“Haven’t you heard these songs that are mashups that are just absolutely brilliant and you go, ‘Oh my God, this is Michael Jackson doing the Weeknd,’” DiCaprio said by way of example of AI-generated content that either mixes up artists who’ve never recorded together or plunks them into unexpected genres. “Or ‘This is funk from the A Tribe Called Quest song ‘Bonita Applebum,’ done in, you know, a sort of Al Green soul-song voice, and it’s brilliant.’”

Leo said his initial reaction to such computer-animated mash-ups is “cool,” but that sugar high of novelty wears off quicker than Andy Warhol predicted. “But then it gets its 15 minutes of fame and it just dissipates into the ether of other internet junk,” DiCaprio lamented. “There’s no anchoring to it. There’s no humanity to it, as brilliant as it is.”

The comments come as AI-generated music has begun storming the charts in the form of fictional acts such as Breaking Rust, which recently hit the top of the Country Digital Songs Sales chart with “Walk My Walk? and Xania Monet, who rose to the top of the R&B Digital Song Sales chart with “How Was I Supposed to Know?”

But, considering the music DiCaprio said is on rotation at his place, you can kind of see where his tastes might skew toward the analog versus future shock digital. The actor copped to loving all the “Blind” bluesmen of the past — a list that included Blind Willie McTell, Blind Lemon Jefferson and Blind Willie Johnson — as well as such classic R&B/doo-wop crooners as the Ink Spots, the Mills Brothers and Johnny Mercer. “I like that sort of World War II–era harmony. It keeps me calm and chill,” said DiCaprio, 51, who also loves such peak early 20th century acts such as guitarist Django Reinhardt, as well as soul/R&B icons Al Green and Stevie Wonder.

Global strategic communications agency 2PM Sharp has hired Caroline Fields to oversee the company’s new Nashville office, Billboard can reveal.

This marks 2PM Sharp’s fourth location, with MK Crooke and Emma Burgess leading the company’s London offices, while 2PM Sharp also has more than 20 publicists in New York and Los Angeles.

Prior to joining 2PM Sharp, Fields served as director of publicity at BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville, working on publicity campaigns for artists including Blake Shelton, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Jason Aldean, Parmalee, Alexandra Kay, K. Michelle and more. The University of Tennessee alum’s career also includes publicity roles at Absolute Publicity and AristoMedia Group.

Executives Lindsay Galin and Jeff Raymond launched 2PM Sharp in 2024. The publicity agency is known for its work with an array of actors, musicians, athletes, filmmakers and comedians, in addition to work in corporate strategy, crisis management and awards campaigns.